Green and White Capture Second at CAC Championships

ST.
MARY'S CITY, MD – The 2010 Capital Athletic Conference
Swimming Championships closed out Sunday evening as the York
College men’s squad posted their fourth straight second-place
overall finish. The Green and White tallied 664 points over the
three-day event.

The Spartans’ best individual
performance came from the tremendous backstroke of AJ Bean
(Ijamsville, Md./Urbana) as last night’s 100 victor
nabbed third in tonight’s 200 event. The talented junior
posted a 1:58.43 to secure his second individual medal of the
Championships.

In the lone relay on the evening of day three,
the Green and White claimed second the 400 freestyle with a solid
3:14.09. Tom DeCoursey (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill
West), who had nothing short of a superb Championships,
led off the Green and White before sophomore Jack
Gottschalk (Forest Hill, Md./Forest Hill) pulled off
York’s best split time of 48.27 in the second leg.
Alex Diehl (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts)
recorded a quality third 100 while Mike Murphy
(Farmingdale, N.J./Colts Neck) anchored the silver-winning
crew.

Earlier in the day, during preliminaries,
Steve Yeager (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) trounced
the previous Spartan record in the 200 breaststroke. Yeager, who
would be the top seed in the evening finals, posted an exceptional
2:14.48, besting the previous mark of 2:16.71 set by current
teammate Steve Tobin (Estell Manor, N.J./Holy
Spirit) in 2009. Yeager would go on to take sixth in the
finals with a 2:17.02.

In the 1,650 freestyle, the lead-off event for
the Sunday evening finals, Gottschalk got off to a tremendous start
as he led the pack early in the race. The second-year Spartan would
go on to capture fourth in the event finishing with a 17:00.87.
Fellow distance freestylers Matt Kempel (Millington,
Md./Queen Anne’s County) and Diehl took ninth and
16th respectively in the timed finals event.

York flooded the 100 freestyle as six Spartans
placed among the race’s top-16. Diehl, in addition to his
distance freestyle ability, displayed his sprint skills once again
in a 100 notching the Green and White’s top finish –
5th – with a 48.85. DeCoursey nabbed sixth with a
48.96 while Gottschalk finished in eighth with a 49.18. In the
consolation finals, Murphy led seeds 9-16 with a 49.04 to take
ninth while Will McLennan (Sparks, Md./Calvert
Hall) and Richard Janosky (Dover,
Pa./Dover) came in 12th and 14th
respectively.

Joining Yeager on the medal stand in the 200
breaststroke, sophomore Jamie Hicks (Kingsville,
Md./Fallston) posted an eighth-place time with a 2:20.23.
In the consolations, the aforementioned Tobin bested seeds 9-16
with a 2:20.11 to secure ninth.

In his final collegiate race, senior
Clark Arnold (York, Pa./Northeastern) registered a
2:03.46 in the 200 butterfly as he took eighth in the event. Fellow
senior Dan Kresser (Washington, N.J./Warren Hills
Regional), who had a terrific weekend, picked up a
consolation victory with a 2:06.51 to finish ninth overall.
Kresser’s time would prove just enough to best teammate and
classmate Andy Demarest’s (Galloway,
N.J./Abesegami) 2:06.80.

In his first CAC Championships, freshman
Andy Woods (York, Pa./Dover Area) took the
consolation heat of the 200 backstroke with a 2:06.91 to secure
ninth while Chris Schleicher (Greensburg,
Pa./Hempfield) turned in a 2:07.18 to nab second.

For the Championships, York’s runner-up
finish came via Mary Washington as the Eagles, who won their
10th – straight CAC crown, put up 984 points.
Third-place St. Mary’s took third by a mere point (390) over
Salisbury (389).

With the CAC Championships now complete, the
Spartans bid farewell to their seven seniors – Arnold,
Demarest, Kresser, Murphy, Colin Brown (Jackson,
N.J./Jackson Memorial), Justin Murphy
(Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis), and Adam Willier
(Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area). This group, which spent
each of their four seasons in the Grumbacher Sport & Fitness
Center Natatorium, helped the Green and White to a tremendous 38-4
record, including a flawless 18-0 in non-conference action.